Member Article

Yorkshire housebuilder spreads Christmas magic with Candlelighters children’s charity

Staff from Barratt Developments Yorkshire West have spread some early festive cheer by donating a day of their time to help local children’s charity Candlelighters with some very important Christmas preparations.

As part of the housebuilder’s ‘donate a day’ volunteering programme, staff are invited to spend a day with a charity of their choice. Development Director, David Coe, and a team of Barratt elves used their day to help Candlelighters wrap presents and prepare ‘magic keys’. The ‘magic keys’ will help make sure Santa can visit little ones spending the festive season in hospital, even though they won’t have a chimney.

The team created their very own Santa’s workshop complete with a present wrapping production line. And, following great success in 2017 at sites across the region, the housebuilder requested another special batch of ‘magic keys’ from the North Pole. This year as well as being given out at selected Barratt Homes and David Wilson Homes developments in Yorkshire, Candelighters has had an extra special delivery of the keys to give to families at its annual Christmas Party ahead of the big day, and bring a smile to those who need it most.

David Coe, Development Director at Barratt Developments Yorkshire West, said: “We had a magical day at Candlelighters. ‘Tis the season of giving after all and we couldn’t think of any charity that deserves a helping hand more at this time of year. The charity supports children with cancer and their families 365 days a year, so donating a day of our time to help them make the Christmas season happier for these families was such an easy choice. We hope the ‘magic keys’ bring some extra joy to the little ones and look forward to supporting the chairty even further in the New Year.”

Amy Harrison, Corporate Fundraiser at Candlelighters, commented: “We’re so grateful for the support shown by Barratt Developments Yorkshire West to Candlelighters this year. Our Christmas Party brings together children and siblings from across the region, and provides them, and their families, with a magical day. The beautifully wrapped presents from our Barratt elves will be instrumental in making the day special for our families. The ‘magic keys’ were such a wonderful idea, I’m sure the children will love them. We can’t wait to work with the Barratt team again in the New Year.”

Candlelighters, based in Leeds, supports children and their families who are affected by childhood cancer in Yorkshire. The charity supports families in a variety of different ways including offering holidays, providing home from home accommodation for families when children are staying on the children’s oncology ward, and providing support and wellbeing services at its very own support centre. Candlelighters also fund crucial research into childhood cancers.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Richard Savage .